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Hisham and Sila has been writing stuff down on this weblog since 2005. Sometimes they post photos of family, sometimes they talk about film, books and music, sometimes there is artwork and stuff about tabletop gaming.

Another new experience I underwent was the language symposium I attended this weekend. The language symposium was an annual collaboration between three universities, two of them in southern Thailand.

I was also part of the organising committee, although my duties were by far the most unimportant and required the least time and effort compared to everyone else who did a fine job. My job (aided by Bazli who knew the ropes better than I did here) was to figure out and set up the opening ceremony gimmick.

In the early weeks of planning (when we had thought of setting up the symposium in Pulau Pinang) I envisioned using a drone for the gimmick. However, it would be much more economical and easier for everyone to just book the use of a gong from the university's recreation unit:

At the end of the set up and rehearsal night the day before the symposium, the gong looked as per the photo above on stage. When we all arrived 6.45 AM the next morning the stage (and the gong) looked ten times more presentable:

That gong is all prettied up and looking smug in the middle of the stage.

The event kicked off early in the morning with guests from a number of South East Asian countries with Yuzy taking point at the podium as the daytime emcee.

The gong hitting ceremony went without a hitch. They hit the gong three times. The gong did not complain. Then the keynote speakers, heads (or acting heads) of three universities and our language centre director took a group photo at the end of the opening ceremony.

If you had asked me 10 years ago or so, I would say my new experiences will be declining gradually the older I grew. There would be less chances for me to do new things. I am pleased to report that I was wrong.

In the last year or so I have been involved in a number of things I never thought I would be involved in with regards to my professional life.

Last weekend I accompanied the entire language department for an Enhancement Workshop.

The workshop was held at a hotel on Langkawi Island. It had been some time since I was at Langkawi and we have not been there since moving to Perlis.

The ferry ride took an hour and they played a Jackie Chan movie on the cabin screens. I think there was a lion in a sports car or something? I fell asleep en route as the movie was playing.

I had forgotten how breathtaking the islands were as we come in to dock. Photos do not do the view justice when the ferry moved between them.

The hotel was located at Cenang Beach. A bus was chartered to transport us from the town of Kuah to Cenang Beach.

Edward MacGregor has been commissioning more paper miniatures for his FATE setting Enigma Corps. Here are three new batches for characters set in a South East Asian uchronia, where Western colonialisation did not occur and local culture has evolved into a dieselpunk society.

They are all now live at my Hishgraphics Patreon page. Check out the photos below.

Once upon a more innocent time I went to school, the result of which was I met many other school-age little humans many of which became my friend. I was 10 years old when I first met Iskandar. We were in the same class for a couple of years. But after school we rarely see one another until the Age of Digital Social Media.